1981 XS11 Special - DEAD DUCK Cafe

[kboehringer]

XS Folks,
I’m working on bike #3 of my XS11 collection and have a wiring question.



BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The bike is an ’81 frame & harness with a ’79 motor. It was initially purchased as a parts donor but my son and I have decided to resurrect it as a Café style bike. We’ve started making a few MINOR mods (tank ready for paint emblems shaved, front fender shortened, some parts ordered).

I would like to keep the OEM frame Structure in-tact and limit any significant “Hackery” of the harness to make future troubleshooting a bit easier. The PO of the bike converted the ignition system to the ’81 version (no mechanical advance, 4 series box, etc.) He also had some “Oddball” coils installed that were from a Kawasaki. Although the bike did have "Spark" I've never seen it start nor have I tried to YET!

It is my plan to convert the bike back to a PRE ’81 ignition system to create commonality with the other XS’s in my collection. I have a very good set of earlier coils, proper ignition unit, proper pick-ups, a mechanical advance, etc.

We hope to make big progress together on DEAD DUCK during his XMas break from College.

HERE’S THE BIG QUESTION:
The ’81 harness in THIS bike does not include any provision for the BALLAST RESISTOR. The Clymer Manual’s wiring diagram indicates that it should (Clymer is frequently wrong). There is no evidence the PO removed it. I THOUGHT I read somewhere here that Yamaha eliminated the Ballast Resistor in ’81??? I have a POS SG donor harness where I pulled the necessary wiring from to modify into the ’81 harness. Seems pretty straight forward with a little soldering and heat shrink it shouldn’t cause any unforeseen issues to tie this in exactly as it is wired in ‘80?

Obviously, the easy move would be to find a pre-’81 harness that’s not hacked to heck (good luck! ). This ’81 harness includes the clutch safety switch which is a feature I like since this will be used by my son and he doesn’t have the same level of experience I have.

Any additional thoughts on this wiring issue?

Sincerely,
Kurt

[MPittma100]

Wiring

If the current 1981 setup works, it will be more trouble to change it to an earlier model. The 1981 units worked well. If it were me, I would run it as is.

[crazy steve]

Yes, the '81 didn't have the ballast resistor. But rather than modifying the harness, simply switch to 3 ohm coils (either aftermarket or OEM '81 units) and then you don't need the resistor.

I would swap ignitions as the early motor runs best with the early ignition timing/curves. I wouldn't use the 'safety interlocks' from the '81 harness as they can be troublesome....

[kboehringer]

Thanks Guys...

Mike & Steve,
Thank you for the responses.

I don't know if the current system works or not. The PO had a mess of additional wires going back & forth and front to back in a complete spaghetti mess to make the Kawasucki coils work and provide spark. The coils were held in place with zip ties. I removed all that junk, none of which made any sense. Returning all the wiring to stock form (and stock routing) wasn't too bad and I think I now have a nice OEM '81 harness.

I haven't yet attempted to see if there would be spark as I thought I could roast a good set of coils and/or the CDI box without the resistor.

It would seem that Steve's suggestion to get a set of 3ohm coils gets me 90% commonality with my other two XS11's and eliminates the '81 series CDI that I don't have a spare for. I heard these are a bit of a bugger to find and expensive if the seller knows it.

Also, with a 3ohm coil replacement, I will still have an extra: CDI, pick-up set, mechanical advance, etc. that can be back-up for all three bikes and two sets of coils for DUCK & Mayberry.

Thanks again guys,

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Kurt,

The others have already provided great info and advice. My theory about the PO's wiring work. Folks on here have talked about a wiring mod to get more juice directly to the coils for stronger sparks, and so that's what I think the PO did. Ran direct taps from the battery up to the coils to give them full 12 volts power directly from the battery instead of from the harness coil connections that goes thru several junctions/connectors and therefore has places for voltage losses which then translates to weaker spark plug spark.

So...with your now OEM wiring cleaned up, you will just want to ensure that the connectors are clean and that you're getting the max voltage to the coils primary side.

When folks running the earlier systems,n 78-80 with the B.R., and they upgrade to newer hotter 3 ohm coils, they just bypass the B.R. by jumping the harness together at the B.R. connection, so that when whichever TCI you have sends the power thru the wires that would route the power thru the B.R. it will be sending 12 volts all the time since the new coils needs 12 volts, and the TCI will still see a total of 3 ohms resistance since the coils have the 3 ohms, instead of splitting it betweeen 1.5 ohm coils and 1.5 ohm B.R..

T.C.

[kboehringer]

Dead Duck Gets some COLOR

With temperatures in the 70's.... I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get some color on the Dead Duck.

(1978 GM/Pontiac ~ Code #50 "Solar Gold Metallic" - PPG Single Stage)

[Radioguylogs]

Nice work

Oh yeah- the paint looks beautiful.

Can I have the old seat? (I know you'll need it for the others, but you can't blame me for trying )

[kboehringer]

Pre-Christmas Vacation Update

XS Friends,
I'm making a LITTLE progress on the "Café" bike. This has turned into a real Father/Son project and is beginning to become fun. Karl (Son #3) is a Mechanical Engineering Major at Southern Poly/Kennesaw State University.



I have to pull the reins back on Karl who can be a little too anxious to help. I know from experience with my first father/son project ('82 Z-28 & Son #2) that it's mighty easy to make a big mistake that's hard to reverse



We finished the side cover for the Right and Karl is now working on the Left. I welded in a cross bar and drilled & tapped a couple M6s to hold the cover. We'll need to do something slightly different on the other side to allow easy battery removal install.

I received a set of Chinese levers and got them installed. Another XS11 member has these same items on his XS11 and said they worked great.


The brake seems a little weak to me..... We'll see when we get to test drive mode.

We like the "Look" and the clutch works fine.... Brake function is certainly more important and looks, especially if Karl will be driving it.....

We should make some great additional progress over the next week as school is out and I'm off from work!

Have a great Holiday Folks..... Ya'll know what I'll be doing.....

Respectfully,
KURT

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Kurt,

Looking quite good. With that small/short of a seat, do you think you'll still be needing the tail sections of the frame rails behind the shock mounts off of my spare frame?? Also, do you still want/need the thicker aluminum grab rail as well?

T.C.

[kboehringer]

Special? Cafe? Fighter? YamaMod? POS?

Hey Kurt,
Looking quite good. With that small/short of a seat, do you think you'll still be needing the tail sections of the frame rails behind the shock mounts off of my spare frame?? Also, do you still want/need the thicker aluminum grab rail as well?
T.C.

T.C.,
Unfortunately, NO. I won't be needing the frame pieces. I'd been thinking of sending you a note to that effect.

I'm not really disappointed with this bike but it's not likely to turn into what I had initially envisioned......let me explain....

I LOVE the looks of the XS11 "SPECIAL" and although I've seen some folks do some really cool looking Café bikes that they love, I really wanted to minimize the mods to mine. In a perfect world I'd toss a ton of money at this thing and make it back into a "Stockish" Special. But, this bike was too far gone and had already had a good bit of "Hackery" done to it. I really only purchased it for parts use. My son convinced me to resurrect it.....

Initially, I wanted to return the missing frame pieces and limit mods to things that could be "UNDONE" in the future. I also wanted to use ONLY YAMAHA parts (even if they were not from an XS11). As you can see the HD Sportster seat was the only thing I could find (without spending a small fortune) to accomplish the single-seater task.

I've been searching the web and trying to find something "Yamaha" to fill the void behind the seat and to integrate a tail lamp and signals (appropriately spaced and VISIBLE). I've looked at a tail from an XS750, a SECA 750, a VISION, and a few others and have not yet found something to fit the bill. Marty showed me a thread where a guy did a crazy beautiful job with a HD Dyna fender. But, I don't want my bike to look too much like a HD. Sorry, I don't really like those bikes.....

Now, we've had to clip the original side cover mounts to affix the solid covers. A tab has been welded in to accept the HD seat bolt which moved the relays, etc. So the bike's further from "Stockish" Yamaha....

One thing I would like to incorporate is an Aluminum Special pull bar. Nothing says Yamaha "Special" like that bar... Not sure how I'm gonna do it but I will be giving that a try after a tail has been properly incorporated.

In closing, I'm a little confused with the direction of this build. It will NOT turn into a new addition to the local scrap heap and it WILL get finished. I just hope I like it and hope that it looks like a YAMAHA when it's done. I guess if the kid likes it that'll be fine. But it may get parked outside under a tarp! LOL

Very Respectfully,
KURT

[Schming]

Hi Kurt,

Nice job you two are doing on the DD so far.

Do you think a Vmax rear fender would work?

Heres one that's not too expensive:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/01-Yamaha-VM...BWQKdF&vxp=mtr

or maybe a Virago rear fender:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1983-83-YAMA...lUxTJp&vxp=mtr

This one has a more streamlined tailight:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/85-Yamaha-Vi...hU2V2c&vxp=mtr

[kboehringer]

Photoshop Attempt......

Hi Kurt,
This one has a more streamlined tailight:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/85-Yamaha-Vi...hU2V2c&vxp=mtr

Schming,
The third one you found for us could be a real possibility.

Here is my horrible attempt at PhotoShopping a "Vision" for the rear of this bike:


It would seem a tail section from a XS750/850 or XS11 STD COULD fit the "Vision". Unfortunately, they attach to the seat and there is no way that could work with the HD seat.

Sincerely,

[jetmechmarty]

An XS850 Special rear fender might attach to the frame. It will be shorter than the XS1100 Special fender.

[motoman]

Shortin' the rear fender on its front-side and remount..........easy fix, as others yrs. past have done it.

[kboehringer]

I found it! The perfect job done by another member!

XS Friends,
Been working on the various 11's and spending some time painting and messing with the rear fender. Got the side panels painted and they look pretty decent. The STOCK fender just isn't gonna work....



I did some searching on the web (which kept pointing me right back at XS11.com) and found this fantastic job by a fellow member (XS11lover). This look is absolutely perfect. He uses a Yamaha fender and really looks clean and correct.


http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41478&page=2

I hope the guy doesn't mind me copying his pic/link and copying his work. But it really is nice and well thought out. GEORGEOUS! Both of them!!!

Sincerely,